H D - S E N S E I

A view on
Hi-def
discs by Gary W. Tooze

Introduction:
Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film
since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was
around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my
horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out
new film experiences. I currently own approximately 7500
DVDs and have reviewed over 3000 myself. I appreciate my
discussion Listserv for furthering my film
education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver.
Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our
Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction. So be
it, but film will always be my first love and I list my
favorites on the old YMdb site now accessible
HERE.

• An HD preview of next
year's release of Pinocchio is included that is
absolutely sock-dropping.

•
Digital Copy with activation code

Product Description: The highly acclaimed director of FINDING NEMO and
the creative storytellers behind
CARS and
RATATOUILLE transport you to a galaxy not so far away for a new cosmic
comedy adventure about a determined robot named WALL-E. After hundreds of lonely
years of doing what he was built for, the curious and lovable WALL-E discovers a
new purpose in life when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. Join them and
a hilarious cast of characters on a fantastic journey across the universe.
Transport yourself to a fascinating new world with Disney-Pixar's latest
adventure, now even more astonishing on DVD and loaded with bonus features,
including the exclusive animated short film BURN-E. WALL•E is a
film your family will want to enjoy over and over again.

The Film:

I think you'll agree that
Pixar is not only the leading American animation studio
in purely technical terms, but ­ and this goes some way
to explain that assertion ­ it assumes the most mature
audience. By "mature" I do not necessary mean "adult." I
mean " grown-up" - you know: when a person of just about
any age whose head is not stuck in the toilet nor
requires that challenges be met across a line drawn in
the sand. It also means that character ­ in both senses
of the word ­ is as important as the story. This is why
Dumbo and Pinocchio are the classics they
are, and it is why Wall-E may someday join them.

Just as Ratatouille asked audiences to accept a rat ­ in
the kitchen, no less ­ as a heroic figure, Wall-E
demands attention without spoken dialogue for well over
a half hour. It's a bold move ­ all the more so in that
there is no voiceover nursing us along - and this right
from the beginning of the film. Not satisfied with such
a genre-bending demand on the audience, many of whom
would be children, Pixar ups the ante by draining the
image of color (the exceptions are zowie) and the audio
of speech (not as we know it) ­ for the first Act
anyhow. Instead, Andrew Stanton, who had directed
Pixar's most colorful movie to date, Finding Nemo,
presents a literal garbage heap of textures through
which our hero, WALL•E
(that's Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth) sifts his
way, relentlessly performing his assigned tasks on a
planet that 700 years ago was evacuated, our having used
up its resources while simultaneously polluting them.

WALL•E
certainly seems entirely too insignificant for the task,
especially when placed alongside the piles of compacted
trash he carefully arranges as high as skyscrapers. But
he does take time off at his retreat where he has
collected various memorabilia, including a cockroach
and, most fondly, a video of Hello, Dolly that he plays
a lot, a lot. Apparently our diminutive mechanical
entity has evolved. In his way, Wall-E is more a living
creature than the humans now relaxing on some faraway
floating island.

One day, in a fit of thunder, Eve arrives. Eve is cool,
sleek, perfect, metal, and utterly devoted to her
mission to seek out and collect a plant sample, ignoring
Wall-E's attempts to get her to respond to his new-found
feelings of love, to interact and to protect. As it
happens Wall-E has already found what Eve is looking for
­ and it's not sex. And once Eve's automatic systems
take over she, the plant, and WALL•E,
who has secretly hitched a ride on her mother ship, is
forwarded to one of the floating paradises for analysis
and the inevitable political intrigues: It seems that
there are those who would prefer humans not return to
Earth.

Once on board the Axiom, color, dialogue and plot
explodes faster than you can say "industrial waste." It
will not be lost on any but the staunchest corporate
retiree that too much peace and relaxation can make Jack
a dull boy. Like many an animated movie, WALL•E
has a strong, but not preachy moralistic message. And,
like other tools as well as humans, it is not the use or
the mission, but what one does with the tool or oneself
that counts. That's what character is all about.

thing about digital animation is that it is essentially
flawless - it should have none of the common
deficiencies that we can find when transferring
live-action film to high-definition digital - things
like edge-enhancement or noise removal manipulation.
Haze and blurriness are intentional effects to create
the perception of motion. Out-of-focus experiences are
simply created to make the true focal object more
primary to our vision. By rendering digital animation to
Blu-ray
we should be able to obtain the highest accuracy of the
original, flawless intent. So here we have WALL•E.
The smoke-filled planet he resides eventually
contrasting with the pristine clarity of space and
beyond. I can't really critique the transfer at all - it
is perfect. One could only state likes and dislikes with
the animation style. Well, I like this more subdued
presentation - few flashy colors and heavy on the
multi-layered contrast. The contours and shadow depth
are brilliant and this is one of the few digital
animation images that I have seen that shows true depth
that one occasionally sees from live-action on
Blu-ray.
It borders on breathtaking and the visuals have a
pristine quality that impresses over and over. The
feature takes up about 22 Gig on a dual-layered disc.
You may click on the screen grabs
to see the full 1080 resolution.

NOTE: This may be the
first time that we can bypass the promos and previews
(mercifully fewer this time) simply by hitting "Top
Menu" on the remote.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

.
There are no other options or DUBs.
You are initially given the option in 'Set-up' to "Maximize
Your Home Theatre" with some tests built into the
Blu-ray.
These go from 'aspect ratio' to brightness, contrast,
Gamma and audio (akin to the old SD "THX Optimizer"). The film has subtle audio effects that
come through discreetly to the Surround system. If your
visitors have the patience this is true demo. The mix has some
remarkable undertones - not solely relying on the
aggressiveness to brandish respect. There are optional subtitles
offered in
English (SDH) - nothing else.

Extras:
I haven't gone through each and every extra feature
addition yet but I have some observations on a few
supplements. I loved the shorts, Presto the
magician, Burn-E (of which you are also given the
option to see with picture-in-picture storyboards)
obviously in HD. I was most impressed with the 1.5 hour
The Pixar Story (in HD!) discussing the roots and
founders of the organization - it's projects and past
successes - really a wonderful tribute to some creative
and visionary minds. I glanced through some standard 'Making
of...' style featurettes for the animation and
music. The 20 minute

Animated Sound Design - Building Worlds from the
Sound Up is also very worthwhile and shouldn't be
missed - this is also in HD!
There are video games - a pop-up geek-track commentary
and many BD-Live bells and whistles. I doubt anyone will
be wanting more. In this 3-disc set you also get the
digital copy for those who would want to watch on a
portal device (are they crazy?).

Disc 2

Bottom line:
One of the best packages of the year on
Blu-ray.
Unlike a lot of the fun animation features WALL•E
has real depth and is something which gains appreciation
upon repeat visitation. The
Blu-ray
image is immaculate

scaling the heights of this new format.
I'm glad it has a special protective coating on the disc
because I'll be spinning this again - for my kids and
for me... and the neighbors kids... and their parents...
and my nieces etc. etc. . It has a universal appeal and
I'm whole-heartedly endorsing this
Blu-ray as
essential to any library.

NOTE: This is the 3-disc
version which I am sure is the exact same as the 2-disc
only with the digital copy.